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Archive for July, 2017

The Student Recreation Center will be closed for upgrades from Saturday, Aug. 5, through Sunday, Aug. 20.

“We are excited that we will be replacing the auxiliary gym floor during our annual building maintenance shutdown,” said Demond Pryor, director of the Office of Recreation in the Division of Student Affairs. “The current floor is the original surface from when the Student Recreation Center opened in 1990. So after 27 years of usage, it is well overdue to be replaced.

“This space is very popular for student informal recreational usage and for competitive recreational sports programming throughout the year.”

During the shutdown, pool maintenance work will include replacing the spa heat exchanger as well as draining and deep cleaning the pools.

Preventative maintenance work also will be done on all of the fitness equipment, including re-upholstering a number of the weight machines and benches.

Touch-up painting inside the facility will take place, broken lockers will be repaired, and all interior and exterior windows will be washed.

“We strive to enhance the look and feel of the Student Recreation Center,” Pryor said. “We are excited for the upcoming academic year that will bring increased usage of the Student Recreation Center by students, faculty, staff and the community.”

The Morse Center, located in Dowling Hall on Health Science Campus, will continue to be available to all eligible students, faculty, staff and current UT Rec members. Summer hours for the center are Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Additionally, UT Rec members can use the pool at the Radisson Hotel on Health Science Campus. Rocket IDs must be shown before use. For the Radisson Hotel pool hours, call 419.381.6800.

UT men’s basketball players Zach Garber and Jordan Lauf have been named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court for a second consecutive season.

Garber

Garber and Lauf each graduated from UT following the 2016-17 academic year.

To be eligible, a student-athlete has to be a member of the varsity squad with junior or senior status and hold a cumulative 3.2 GPA or higher at the conclusion of the academic year.

A business management major, Garber started 10 of 16 contests last year while missing much of the second half of the season due to a broken foot. He averaged 3.6 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game in 15.4 minutes per game and was able to return to play his final contest as a Rocket in the 2017 College Basketball Invitational.

Lauf

Lauf will be entering his first season as a graduate assistant on the Rockets’ coaching staff after earning his degree in business management. He paced UT with a 59 field-goal percentage and ranked second on the team with a career-best 6.2 rebounds per game and 75 offensive boards. The Rockets’ two-time captain started 33 of 34 contests and averaged a career-high 8.3 points per game in a career-best 33.6 minutes per game en route to playing in a school-record 133 contests in his collegiate career.

For the second straight year, the Toledo men’s tennis team earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association all-academic team honors with four student-athletes being recognized as scholar-athletes.

The junior duo of Vincent Anzalone and Luka Vitosevic along with Danilo Pejovic and sophomore Thawin Suksathaporn were named Intercollegiate Tennis Association scholar-athletes. Anzalone and Vitosevic were named scholar-athletes for the second straight year.

“We’re very proud of our guys’ efforts in the classroom and the great academic support UT Athletics provides,” said Head Coach Al Wermer. “Our challenges last year with injuries did not deter their academic success. We also have a few more guys who barely missed this GPA threshold.”

It’s the second straight year in which the Rockets have earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association all-academic team honors. During the spring semester, the team had an overall grade point average of 3.4. Toledo along with Ball State and Western Michigan earned all-academic team honors from the Mid-American Conference.

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association all-academic team award is open to any member program that has a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above (on a 4.00 scale).

In order to earn Intercollegiate Tennis Association scholar-athlete status, a player must meet the following criteria: be a varsity letter winner; have a GPA of at least 3.50 for the current academic year; and have been enrolled at her present school for at least two semesters (including freshman through senior year).

“I’m so proud of Sid and Claire to be named Intercollegiate Tennis Association scholar-athletes,” said Head Coach Tracy Mauntler. “They are great leaders on and off the court, and they do an amazing job of balancing life as a student-athlete.”

Aleck, left, and Huck

The women’s tennis team earned Intercollegiate Tennis Association all-academic team honors and joined Akron, Ball State and Western Michigan as the only schools from the Mid-American Conference to earn the award.

Both Aleck and Huck were named Academic All-MAC this season. Aleck in singles play had a record of 13-17 and captured seven two-set victories. Huck earned MAC Doubles Player of the Week honors twice with partner Deedee Leenabanchong and registered a doubles record of 19-10 and 14-6 in dual matches.

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association all-academic team award is open to any member program that has a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or above (on a 4.00 scale).

In order to earn Intercollegiate Tennis Association scholar-athlete status, a player must meet the following criteria: be a varsity letter winner; have a GPA of at least 3.50 for the current academic year; and have been enrolled at her present school for at least two semesters (including freshman through senior year).

A scholarship fund has been created for University of Toledo students in memory of former UT employee Larry Hilton.

“UT was such a huge part of Larry’s life, his extended family,” said Debbie Hilton, Larry’s wife of 28 years. “Larry is no longer here physically to mentor students, but we’re hopeful that this scholarship will provide monetary support that will assist future students in reaching their educational goals.”

Hilton

The Larry Hilton Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to two student workers, one student who is in Plant Operations Ground/Facilities and one student in Athletic Facilities. The College of Engineering Scholarship Committee and the Athletic Department Scholarship Committee will each choose a student who is deserving of the scholarship.

“A scholarship of this magnitude will make it possible for a student to go to school who may not be able to afford college otherwise,” said Dr. Steve LeBlanc, interim dean of the College of Engineering. “It is very kind of the Hilton family to consider an engineering student for this gift.”

“We are extremely appreciative of this gift from the Hilton family,” said Mike O’Brien, UT vice president and athletic director. “When you come to a Rocket event and see a student employee in action, you will see the legacy of Larry Hilton through this scholarship.”

Hilton joined the UT staff in 1988 and worked as a mechanic and supervisor for the Motor Vehicle Department. He died in 2013 at age 54.

During a weekly water sampling expedition in late July aboard The University of Toledo Lake Erie Center’s 28-foot research vessel, UT senior Alex Lytten holds the buoy steady as fellow senior Zach Swan sprays and scrubs it clean of algae and bird droppings.

For the third year in a row, UT’s water quality and sensor buoy floats in Lake Erie’s Maumee Bay providing live data accessible 24/7 to anyone by smart phone.

It’s one piece of UT’s battle plan to track and combat the growing harmful algal bloom in order to sound the early warning for water treatment plant operators as they work to provide safe public drinking water.

“The bloom is on its way,” said Dr. Tom Bridgeman, UT algae researcher and professor of ecology, who has been focused on this problem for nearly two decades. “The blue-green algae is growing very rapidly right now. It’s growing leaps and bounds.”

Nearby at the city of Toledo water intake that pumps raw lake water to the plant, Bridgeman uses a pulley to draw a water sample and concentrates it into a jar.

It holds a mix of bright green and olive green algae. The olive green algae — “the good algae called diatoms,” according to Bridgeman — sinks to the bottom of the bottle. The bright blue-green algae — “the bad algae responsible for producing toxins such as microcystin” — stays at the top.

Eva Kramer, UT graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in ecology, lowered the YSI EXO sonde into the water. The instrument is comprised of several probes to measure various water quality parameters, including the amount of blue-green algae present, oxygen levels, water temperature and pH.

“Looks like more blue-green algae than we had yesterday,” Swan said.

“It’s growing exponentially,” Bridgeman said.

The researchers also spot a spiny water flea, an invasive species from the Caspian Sea, in the water sample. It’s eating the other zooplankton moving in the jar.

Eva Kramer, a UT graduate student researcher who is pursuing a master’s degree in ecology, mans the big blue wand called a YSI EXO sonde, which is comprised of several probes to measure various water quality parameters, including the amount of blue-green algae present, oxygen levels, water temperature and pH. It’s the same instrument mounted inside UT’s buoy.

Kramer first lowers the sonde for a surface reading and then even lower for a deeper reading.

Swan submerges the black-and-white Secchi disk to measure how far below surface it disappears from view.

“It’s 160 centimeters,” Swan said.

“That’s higher than I thought,” Kramer said.

Lytten, who also serves as boat captain, uses a long tube that reaches the bottom of the lake to draw a water column sample.

“We’re collecting a plug of water, instead of just on the surface,” Bridgeman said.

The research team takes the samples collected throughout Maumee Bay and the open waters of the western basin back to the Lake Erie Center lab to process and analyze for algal toxins and chemical signals that will provide clues to help predict future blooms.

“We are watching very closely and prepared,” Bridgeman said. “We expect to get a big bloom this year, but it’s not necessarily going to cause a problem. It’s usual, but it’s not acceptable.”

Bridgeman and his team will continue these sampling trips throughout the summer as one part of the University’s efforts to address harmful algal blooms.

In addition to the environmental scientists, UT has experts conducting water quality research in a diverse breadth of areas, including economics, engineering, business, pharmacy, law, chemistry and biochemistry, geography and planning, and medical microbiology and immunology.

Rocket golfers Colin Joseph and Stephen Watts have each been tabbed as 2016-17 Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholars, the Golf Coaches Association of America announced yesterday.

A record total of 260 players in Division I, 108 in Division II and 20 in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics earned the honor.

A finance major with a 3.837 grade-point average, Joseph ranked third on the team with a career-low 75.0 stroke average. He capped off his junior campaign by tying for fourth place at the 2017 Mid-American Conference Championships with a collegiate-best one-under par 287 (74-69-69-75) en route to earning MAC All-Tournament Team honors. A two-time Academic All-MAC selection as well as team co-captain, Joseph shot par or better on five occasions last year, including a collegiate-low four-under par 66 at the Macdonald Cup.

Watts also will be entering his senior season in the 2017-18 academic year and holds a 3.558 grade-point average in finance. He ranked second on the team last season with a career-best 74.6 stroke average and shot par or better on a squad-best seven occasions. A two-time Academic All-MAC selection as well as team co-captain, Watts’ top showing in 2016-17 was a third-place finish after carding a collegiate-best six-under par 204 (66-67-71) at the Macdonald Cup.

To be eligible for Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar status, an individual must be a junior or senior academically; compete in at least three full years at the collegiate level; participate in 50 percent of his team’s competitive rounds; have a stroke average under 76.0 in Division I, 78.0 in Division II, 77.0 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and 79.0 in Division III; and maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.2. A recipient also must be of high moral character and be in good standing at his college or university.

The University of Toledo football team was picked to finish in first place in the Mid-American Conference’s West Division in voting by members of the league’s media contingent.

The annual preseason poll was released today at the conference’s 2017 Football Media Day at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

The Rockets received 22 first-place votes and a total of 142 points in the annual poll, 35 points ahead of second-place Western Michigan.

Toledo also picked up 21 out of 24 votes to win the MAC Championship Game. Ohio (31 points) was picked to repeat as MAC East Division champion, followed by Miami (129).

“It’s good to know that people think you’re going to be a good team, but championships aren’t won in the off-season,” said UT Head Coach Jason Candle. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’re certainly not a finished product. Our team is ready to start camp and prepare for what we hope will be a great season.”

Toledo was 9-4 in Candle’s debut as head coach in 2016, earning a berth into the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl.

UT returns one of the nation’s most explosive offenses. Led by senior quarterback Logan Woodside, Toledo averaged 38.0 points per game and led the Mid-American Conference in total offense with a school-record 517.8 yards per game in 2016. Woodside paced the nation with 45 touchdown passes and was named a Heisman contender by the Heisman Trophy Trust. Two of his favorite targets are back — Cody Thompson (64 receptions, 11 TDs, 19.8 yards per catch) and Jon’Vea Johnson (40 receptions,10TDs, 19.3 yards per catch) — as is 2015 second-team All-MAC running back Terry Swanson.

On a recent Monday morning, Dr. Paul Brand found inspiration in the wise eyes of Louie, an elephant that was at the time housed at the Toledo Zoo.

“I belong to an informal group of artists, the Monday Morning Painters. We meet every Monday for breakfast and then sketch or paint in different venues around northwest Ohio,” explained the associate professor emeritus of physiology and pharmacology.

Dr. Paul Brand, who drew this sketch of Louie the elephant, will have a booth at Art on the Mall Sunday, July 30.

Though Brand was able to expertly capture Louie in his sketch, he pointed out that wild animals don’t always make the easiest subject matter: “Sketching at the zoo is fun, but challenging. Subject matter is mostly the interesting architecture; the animals would make great pictures if they would hold still. Happily, Louie held still for about 30 minutes while eating an enormous amount of hay.”

While Louie ate his breakfast, Brand studied the elephant’s features.

He described his artistic process: “I set up opposite him and laid out a sketch as usual, using a 2B drawing pencil, first noting the length and height of his body, the relative sizes of his head, ears and trunk, and the length of his legs compared to his height at his shoulder. Then I carefully outlined his body shape and used shading to give volume and character. I paid special attention to his face as that is where character is. Last, I made fine lines to show the creases around his eyes that give him the appearance of wisdom.”

Louie, born in 2003 at a whopping 275 pounds, recently was transferred to Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha, Neb. He resides with a herd of six other elephants rescued from Africa amid a severe drought. Zoo staff are hopeful that transfers such as these will serve a large role in saving the endangered species.

Though visitors aren’t able to visit Louie at the Toledo Zoo, they can still pick up greeting cards made from Brand’s sketch, and the original sketch, at Art on the Mall. The juried art fair will be held Sunday, July 30, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Centennial Mall. Brand will be at booth No. 98, located near the Health and Human Services Building.

“I enjoy showing my work at art fairs; Art on the Mall is one of the best: well-organized; friendly, competent volunteers; and an excellent location on campus,” he said. “This is my fourth year at Art on the Mall.”

Faculty, staff, students and volunteers are invited to UT Medical Center’s thank-you picnic next month.

The picnic will begin with first-shift employees from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1, on the patio outside of the Four Seasons Bistro and Health Education Building.

UT President Sharon L. Gaber will be joined by Dan Barbee, chief executive officer of UT Medical Center, and Dr. Christopher Cooper, dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences, and executive vice president for clinical affairs, for a brief program at noon.

David Cunningham, a custodial worker in Environmental Services, will play keyboards.

Second-shift employees will celebrate from 4 to 6 p.m. on the patio.

And third-shift employees will have their picnic from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 2, in the Four Seasons Bistro.

“It’s important to take the time to come together to celebrate the many accomplishments we have had over the year and recognize everyone for their exceptional work,” Barbee said. “The UTMC team is the best group of people I have ever had the opportunity to work with, and the care they provide is second to none.”